Browser Hijacker Search.genieo.com Removal

Note! Your computer might be affected by Search.genieo.com and other threats.

Threats such as Search.genieo.com may be persistent on your system. They tend to re-appear if not fully deleted. A malware removal tool like SpyHunter will help you to remove malicious programs, saving you the time and the struggle of tracking down numerous malicious files.SpyHunter’s scanner is free but the paid version is needed to remove the malware threats. Read SpyHunter’s EULA and Privacy Policy

If you see a suspicious search engine with advertisement spaces on the bottom of it, going by the address name of search.guineo.com, chances are you have a PUP(Potentially Unwanted Application) on your computer. Security experts believe that Genieo is a browser hijacker that may track and aggregate all types of user information from the computer it’s been installed on. This is usually done by using various tracking beacons, pixels, session and active cookies, LSOs (Local Shared Objects) and others. Experts strongly advise for the uninstallation of Genieo software from user machines.

Genieo – What Is It?

According to their website, Genieo claims to provide a newspaper style home page with the latest news, based on user interests. In reality, this browser hijacker changes the home page and the new tab page of your favorite web browser to search.genieo.com. When we checked the cookies the website installs on your computer, we have discovered that their amount was unusually high, in comparison to other sites and search engines:

More so, in the Privacy Policy of the search engine, the company claims that the is a possibility it may collect and share certain type of information from the user with third parties:

Most PUPs like Genieo collaborate with third parties to provide various advertisements, based on information collected from the previously mentioned cookies. Such third-parties may not only obtain information from the user on their terms, but also might:

Convince users to fill out surveys for compensation, by filling out their financial information.

Trick the users into calling numbers, portrayed as Tech Support, that may charge high rates for the phone call.

Make the users enter their personal information as a part of a registration for a free trial of a paid service/program.

Input malicious code that may cause severe PC slowdowns and even computer crashes.

Cyber scammers are continuously developing modernized tactics to make profits for the average user. This is why it is a good advice to be informed on the latest threats and scams and protect yourself with a daily updated anti-malware tool.

Steps to Remove Search.genieo.com

In case you feel unsafe using genieo.com and have decided to eradicate this program, experts recommend to follow the step-by-step guide below. You can also watch the removal demonstation video for Genieo for Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome users. After that, it is highly advisable to download an anti-malware program to ensure your future safety and completely eradicate all traces of Genieo software from your machine.

1. Remove/Uninstall Search.genieo.com in Windows

Here is a method in few easy steps to remove that program.No matter if you are using Windows 8, 7, Vista or XP, those steps will get the job done. Dragging the program or its folder to the recycle bin can be a very bad decision. If you do that, bits and pieces of the program get left behind, and that can lead to unstable work of your PC, mistakes with the file type associations and other unpleasant activities. The proper way to get a program off your computer is to Uninstall it. To do that:

Hold the Windows Logo Button and “R” on your keyboard. A Pop-up window will appear (fig.1).

In the field type in “appwiz.cpl” and press ENTER (fig.2).

This will open a window with all the programs installed on the PC. Select the program that you want to remove, and press “Uninstall” (fig.3).

Follow the instructions above and you will successfully uninstall Search.genieo.com.

2. Restore the settings in your browser

2. Remove Search.genieo.com from your browser

Remove a toolbar from Mozilla FirefoxRemove a toolbar from Google Chrome Remove a toolbar from Internet Explorer Remove a toolbar from Safari

Start Mozilla Firefox Open the menu window

Select the “Add-ons” icon from the menu

Select Search.genieo.com and click “Remove”

After Search.genieo.com is removed, restart Mozilla Firefox by closing it from the red “X” in the top right corner and start it again.

Start Google Chrome and Open the drop menu

Move the cursor over “Tools” and then from the extended menu choose “Extensions“

From the opened “Extensions” menu locate Search.genieo.com and click on the garbage bin icon on the right of it.

After Search.genieo.com is removed, restart Google Chrome by closing it from the red “X” in the top right corner and start it again.

Start Internet Explorer:

Click “‘Tools’ to open the drop menu and select ‘Manage Add-ons’

In the ‘Manage Add-ons’ window, make sure that in the first window ‘Add-on Types’, the drop menu ‘Show’ is on ‘All add-ons’

Select Search.genieo.com to remove, and then click ‘Disable’. A pop-up window will appear to inform you that you are about to disable the selected toolbar, and some additional toolbars might be disabled as well. Leave all the boxes checked, and click ‘Disable’.

After Search.genieo.com has been removed, restart Internet Explorer by closing it from the red ‘X’ in the top right corner and start it again.

Start Safari

Open the drop menu by clicking on the sprocket icon in the top right corner.

From the drop menu select ‘Preferences’ In the new window select ‘Extensions’ Click once on Search.genieo.com Click ‘Uninstall’

A pop-up window will appear asking for confirmation to uninstall Search.genieo.com. Select ‘Uninstall’ again, and the Search.genieo.com will be removed.

To clean your computer with the award-winning software Spy Hunter – It is highly recommended to run a scan before purchasing the full version of the software to make sure that the current version of the malware can be detected by SpyHunter.